


The Subtlety of Tea

by phoenix_writing



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:49:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix_writing/pseuds/phoenix_writing
Summary: Hermione is determined, and Severus is clueless.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Comments: 3
Kudos: 167





	The Subtlety of Tea

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the nebulous future, when the trio is in their twenties. There was no Epilogue, and Severus is alive because he is a paranoid Potions master.

1.

“I am busy, Hermione.”

Hermione suppressed a sigh. And attempt number eighty-six failed just like the previous eighty-five. But Gryffindors were stubborn and resilient, right? She pasted on a smile and made sure her tone was casual.

“Of course. Maybe next time.”

She needn’t have bothered. Severus had already dismissed her, attention drawn inexorably to the books that she had brought him.

At least he liked _something_ about her, even if it was only her ability to borrow arcane books from the Ministry.

2.

“I’m not saying I understand it,” Ron hastened to clarify, “because I definitely don’t—at all—but I still think you’re going about it all wrong.”

Hermione glared at him, which he should have expected.

Ron winked at her. “Hey, aren’t I the bloke who couldn’t figure out what the problem was when you attacked me with a swarm of flying birds?”

This made her lips tip up. “Are you saying all men are dense, not just you?”

He tried to elbow her, but she dodged. At least she looked less hopeless. The years had definitely brought home to Ron that it was way easier being friends with Hermione than being in a relationship with her.

More diplomatically, Ron said, “I’m just saying that your attempts so far don’t seem to be working, do they?”

Hermione sighed. “No.”

3.

Hermione looked like she was at her wits’ end. “Isn’t it a horrible idea to be contemplating actually following Ron’s advice?”

Harry stifled a laugh. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call him an expert in the romance department, but as someone who has, uh, kind of a tendency to throw himself at the person he’s interested in, I can only say that the direct approach has worked for me. Of course, I was never in danger of being chopped up into potions ingredients if it all went horribly wrong.”

She huffed a laugh. “It’s less that and more worrying about being, uh, emotionally eviscerated?”

Yeah, that was kind of the part that Harry would be worried about, too, especially if he were going after someone like Severus Snape. At least the Slytherin _he_ ’d chosen was—Oh, his Slytherin!

Impulsively, Harry suggested, “How about I get Draco to sound Severus out? You know, be all subtle and Slytherin?”

Hermione was clearly desperate, because she didn’t dismiss this as the stupidest idea ever and actually seemed to believe that Harry would be able to convince Draco to do such a thing.

4.

Draco let out an aggravated sigh. “I don’t get it, Severus. She’s surely not being too subtle for you. You do know what day next Thursday is, right?”

“The fourteenth,” the Potions master said immediately.

Once it became clear that Severus wasn’t going to get there on his own, Draco prompted with exasperation, “Of February!”

An arrested expression crossed Severus’s face only to be dismissed. “Coincidence.”

Draco shot him a sceptical look.

Severus blustered. “Tea is not _romance_.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Valentine’s Day is exploding with romance. And no one makes dozens of attempts to ask someone out for tea unless they are seriously interested.”

Severus scoffed. “The sheer number of attempts only proves that the date is a coincidence and the effort a polite Gryffindor fiction. The woman champions house elves, for Heaven’s sake!”

Draco sighed. “You keep telling yourself that, Severus.”

His godfather sneered at him.

5.

Severus had needed time to process, but there was really only one likely conclusion to be drawn from the fact that Draco had approached him. It was vaguely possible, of course, that it was all an elaborate trick designed to humiliate Severus. But Draco was not that stupid, Potter wasn’t actually his father, and Hermione … well, she _had_ asked him to tea with a great deal of frequency. Still, Severus needed a little more assurance.

So he had Owled her citing a book he needed urgently, and she had arrived with it on the 14th without a word about the fact that he had previously claimed that he would be busy. He should probably have noticed sooner that although she did not hesitate to argue with him and tell him he was wrong or rude or just plain obnoxious, she never brought up his rebuffs of her invitations. She also didn’t mope or pout or try to guilt him into anything, which was rare indeed in his experience.

She greeted him as she always did, smiled at him just like she always did, and handed over the book he had demanded just as though she were a lackey at a bookstore and not a Ministry official doing him a favour.

It was a rather lowering reflection, that Severus had missed all this and had needed it to be pointed out by Draco—and by extension, Harry Potter.

“Hermione—”

He hesitated. Her expression was clear, no expectation in it.

He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Would you care to have tea with me?”

There was one heart-stopping moment where she didn’t react, and Severus was going to kill Draco _and_ Potter in the most painful way possible. And then Severus was suddenly certain it was going to be worth even all of their gloating. Because Hermione’s eyes had lit up, and the biggest, brightest smile that he had ever seen was directed at _him_.

“I’d love to.”

_Finite incantatem_


End file.
